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Hello everybody! This is Sgt. Pepper! His favourite activities include begging for treats, eating, cuddles, and getting upset at you for not getting his way. He is a pretty chill bunny, and we love him. He has the regular rabbit aversion to being picked up (he hops away like a madman), but sorry Sgt, sometimes we gotta clip nails and such. Also, I have a question - how do you guys deal with people who assume too much about bunnies? One of my room-mates, though a sweet guy, cannot get it through his head that bunnies are not like cats or dogs, and regularly expresses concern about how we care for the bunny. While his concern is appreciated, it's always misguided - things like thinking we're underfeeding the bunny because he could feel Sgt Pepper's shoulder blades, or that the bunny is unhappy being inside all day and should live outside, etc. For example, the most recent: the bunny gets excited at food time and shakes the sides of his pen in excitement. As much as we tell our room-mate that it's a food-related behaviour (the bunny only does it at mealtimes), he takes the cage-rattling as proof that the bunny is trying to "break free" (and often mentions how "boring it must be living in one space all day, he must want to get out", etc). We do let the rabbit hop around the house (with supervision) when home and don't keep him in his pen all day, but it's starting to make me feel like a bad bunny owner to have how we care for him come under constant scrutiny. I dunno, excuse my digression - I'm more just venting to other bunny people who may understand.
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Apr 20, 2008 18:51
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StrangersInTheNight posted:Also, I have a question - how do you guys deal with people who assume too much about bunnies? One of my room-mates, though a sweet guy, cannot get it through his head that bunnies are not like cats or dogs, and regularly expresses concern about how we care for the bunny. Sgt Pepper is really cute. As for your roommate, you could direct him to the House Rabbit Society website where he can view a lot of information that indicates you're doing right by your bunny. Obviously his heart is in the right place, so I think some research into house rabbit care might assuage his fears.
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Apr 20, 2008 18:56
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StrangersInTheNight posted:Hello everybody! This is Sgt. Pepper! Maybe explain to him the average lifespan of an outside bunny is 2 years, and a house bunny is 10...that's a good enough reason for me. Sgt. Pepper looks like he's quite content with his life, I wouldn't worry about it. Side Note: I can't believe this thread took off like it did! 29 pages, holy moly.
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Apr 20, 2008 19:20
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well, our outdoor bunny, Clark, lived a happy and healthy 6 years.... Until he got nailed by a red tailed hawk. Unless the good Sergeant can man a flack gun he's probably best off indoors.
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Apr 21, 2008 02:26
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girlscoutdropout posted:Maybe explain to him the average lifespan of an outside bunny is 2 years, and a house bunny is 10...that's a good enough reason for me. Sgt. Pepper looks like he's quite content with his life, I wouldn't worry about it. If the risk of predation is low, or you can make it low, bunnies may well have a better life outside than inside (and if the predation risk is low, that skews the average lifespan for your bunnies upwards anyway). My rabbit is inside with me when I am in the house and in a secure enclosure with lots of grass, shelter and space to run when I am out.
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Apr 21, 2008 03:42
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asteroceras posted:If the risk of predation is low, or you can make it low, bunnies may well have a better life outside than inside (and if the predation risk is low, that skews the average lifespan for your bunnies upwards anyway). Unless they get parasites, like cuterebra larvae *shudder*.
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Apr 21, 2008 03:44
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Dr. Housecat MD posted:Unless they get parasites, like cuterebra larvae *shudder*. It's just not worth it to me to risk it, between dogs, cats, possums, foxes, dumb college kids (I live in a college town), neighborhood children, parasites, possible chemicals, and weather it's too much.
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Apr 21, 2008 04:40
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asteroceras posted:If the risk of predation is low, or you can make it low, bunnies may well have a better life outside than inside (and if the predation risk is low, that skews the average lifespan for your bunnies upwards anyway). When I had bunnies living outside(about 20 years ago now) they didn't live very long at all, and they were safe as safe can be. In a sheltered garage and in hutches. I'm sure different situations will result in different outcomes, but I'd still argue that a rabbit has a better chance at a longer, healthier, happier life if kept indoors 99% of the time. I'm just too worried about insects, pesticides and other poo poo to even think about bringing either of my rabbits outdoors anymore(until I get my own house)
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Apr 21, 2008 07:46
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asteroceras posted:If the risk of predation is low, or you can make it low, bunnies may well have a better life outside than inside (and if the predation risk is low, that skews the average lifespan for your bunnies upwards anyway). My primary concern with rabbits living outside is that the owner is usually not able to adequately monitor behavioral changes, food intake, and waste output. Monitoring is critical to preventing and spotting illness; and it's hard enough when the rabbit is indoors. Add in the additional dangers [heatstroke, fleas, botflies, raccoon roundworm (infection can come from contaminated soil, and is transmissible to humans I might add)] and monitoring the health of an outdoor rabbit becomes a full-time job. Furthermore: The typical rabbit outside gets how much interactive time per day? 20 minutes, twice a day? Maybe an hour or two on the weekend if the weather is nice? Unless the owner is one of those very rare people who lives a good part of their life outside, the rabbit is alone most of her time; a highly unnatural state for a creature which evolved to live in huge social groups. This is compounded if she lives alone without a rabbit friend. It baffles me that people will argue that living outside is more "natural" and yet in the same breath state that they are perfectly happy living alone. I think a lot of people who argue that rabbits are "happier with the natural environment" outdoors, are simply unwilling to take the time and effort to replicate the natural environment indoors. You can provide space to run, boxes to dig in, plants to graze on, all safely inside, but it's so much easier to chuck them in the backyard and call it better. Back in NC I was involved with three people who kept outdoor rabbits. One was a soccer mom who wanted her daughters to have rabbits, but hated the mess and smell of having them indoors. I got involved after two of her rabbits were killed in their pen by a dog - the dog never actually breached the pen. One rabbit died presumably of fright, with a torn eye and cheek where he had tried to claw his way through the wire to escape. The other was caught through the wire and had her feet and toes chewed off. I helped with advice and construction on building a more secure pen, but in the three years I knew her, she lost three more rabbits (although none to predators). The second person rescued feral rabbits (domestic species which were breeding in feral colonies) and kept them in a large enclosure with wire top and underneath, provided ice packs in the heat, proper food and diet and vetcare. She also lost about a rabbit a year despite all her efforts. The last was a vet tech who kept her rabbits outside, and took them to the vet clinic with her every day. Her rabbits all died at about 6 years old, which is better longevity than the other two were getting, but in each case (and much like the other two) she went out and just found her rabbit dead in the morning. Every letter she sends she bemoans the fact that she couldn't keep them indoors (crazy husband) and that they might still be with her if she had. 
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Apr 21, 2008 15:04
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Aimbot posted:well, our outdoor bunny, Clark, lived a happy and healthy 6 years.... girlscoutdropout posted:It's just not worth it to me to risk it, between dogs, cats, possums, foxes, dumb college kids (I live in a college town), neighborhood children, parasites, possible chemicals, and weather it's too much. Yeah - we live in Queens, around lots of dogs, cats, and little kids. Some of the kids are pretty cool, but the neighbor kids to the back of us are quite bratty - I'm terrified of what they'd do to a bunny if left to their own devices. Thanks all for the advice (and the compliments on the Sgt, heh), I'll pass the info along  It's really not a big deal, I feel a bit bad complaining on a forum, it was just nice to get some reassurance.
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Apr 21, 2008 19:14
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alucinor posted:My primary concern with rabbits living outside is that the owner is usually not able to adequately monitor behavioral changes, food intake, and waste output. Monitoring is critical to preventing and spotting illness.. This. You said it better than I could. On the subject of housing rabbits outdoors, I've never allowed a rabbit outside unsupervised. Things happen that you won't expect. But it's still a good idea to let them roam around every now and then, in an enclosed outdoors area. In fact, I'm in the process of adopting a rabbit from a private owner and just got off the phone with her. While her family is very experienced with handling animals (they practically have a farm), her first rabbit died at 6 years old. The rabbit lived mainly outside. There seems to be a pattern here...
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Apr 21, 2008 19:56
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Okay, I wanted to do this for a long time, and today I finally compiled the images of our bunnys' home. I built this with a friend and my girlfriend half a year ago and it still stands. The 3-level cage with coloured "carpet", nice view and separate toilet room:  I used 3 outdoor cages on top of each other and the floors consist of the cube cage thingies which are loving hard to get in Germany. We covered them with carpet tiles and my girlfriend wanted the coloured cloth on top of this. So, the ground floor is only carpet tiles, first floor is orange and the second floor is green. All stuff is tied together with zip ties, some wood as stabilizer and an old cage as the separate "toilet room".  Here with all "doors" opened and the toilet removed, there's good access to everything for cleaning:  Top down view:  Looking up from ground floor:  Some stuff for playing, throwing around and destroying:  This is Frou-Frou, looking around in the new  Phoebe, completely baffled and trying to understand what the ladders are for:  Frou-Frou checking out the new toys:   That's after playing for a long time, trying to move all stuff down to the ground floor and getting some rest:  These pictures are 6 months old, this is an actual picture of them, eating a carrot on the top floor.  When I see the plush guinea pig it reminds me of something: It's really strange, there are 2 plush guinea pigs and one bunny in there. They only ever play with the bunny and after the weekly cleaning it's their top priority to check out where the little bunny is and lick him all over But I must say, I'm really happy the cage still stand, I'm surprised the cloth is still mostly intact and I finally had the time to post the pictures. And I wanted to know what other toys I could give them to play with, they are occasionally getting some paper to rip apart, they currently have a big carton in the ground floor for extra hiding space, but they rarely use the second floor because it's not interesting as soon as all the toys I placed there were dopped down from there. Are there tipps for tying things to the roof or should I place another hut there for even more hiding space?
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Apr 21, 2008 21:15
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Honk posted:
My bunnies pretty much ignore the top layer. Occasionally they will hop around, explore it a bit, but mainly they stay on the ground. I've taped paper towers and different things from the roof, which they like to tear down but it doesn't get them to stay up there. On another note, we had to clip Milly's nails last night for the first time. What a horrifying experience. She was squeemish almost the whole time, grinding her teeth (which she has NEVER done) and when we put her down she gave us a thump, which she also has never done. Fortunately it was Milly, so by the time we put the clippers up and came back she wanted loving again.
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Apr 21, 2008 22:47
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GoodApollo posted:... she gave us a thump, which she also has never done... My bunny must be the hugest brat then, she thumps all the time when she doesn't get her way. My sister has even been thumped at for not opening the cage immediately when she got home. Not a thump in the cage, after she was let out and my sister was resting on the sofa, Pixel came over and gave her a stink eye, and when my sister didn't notice she was being stared at, Pixel thumped at her. What a brat! She also thumps if she doesn't think she's received enough food.
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Apr 21, 2008 23:50
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okiecompy posted:My bunny must be the hugest brat then, she thumps all the time when she doesn't get her way. Oh yeah, totally just described Lucy. She's so temperamental...I mean princess.
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Apr 22, 2008 00:03
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okiecompy posted:My bunny must be the hugest brat then, she thumps all the time when she doesn't get her way. My sister has even been thumped at for not opening the cage immediately when she got home. Not a thump in the cage, after she was let out and my sister was resting on the sofa, Pixel came over and gave her a stink eye, and when my sister didn't notice she was being stared at, Pixel thumped at her. What a brat! She also thumps if she doesn't think she's received enough food. Knowles thumps a lot more, sometimes for reasons we don't even understand (but usually because we picked him up, which he hates). Today during playtime I came and sat in front of the cage door to pet Milly, and Knowles ran past me, into the cage, and thumped at me. He's been pissy all day, so here's hoping he's not going back in his shell again.
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Apr 22, 2008 01:39
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Ok I'm a little concerned for my buns. I went away for the weekend , and apparently my roommate decided to have a loud as hell party. Using my speakers. Which are in my room. Loud enough so that it's loud in the living room (down the hall, direct opposite way from the speakers) This enough is a huge nono, I'm very anal about my stuff, but what I'm really more worried about is my super sound sensitive bunnies. They both seemed very testy and grumpy when I came back, and Ben was really on edge. Do I need to worry about hearing loss? I'm levels of pissed at him that I've never been, it's so amazingly disrespectful. On top of it, once he was done with the speakers, he just unplugged his ipod, and left the cord out, where the buns could chew it. "Thankfully" they were too traumatized to eat it, and so I don't have to spend 20 minutes splicing.
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Apr 22, 2008 02:28
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Deceptor101 posted:Ok I'm a little concerned for my buns. I went away for the weekend , and apparently my roommate decided to have a loud as hell party. Using my speakers. Which are in my room. Loud enough so that it's loud in the living room (down the hall, direct opposite way from the speakers) This enough is a huge nono, I'm very anal about my stuff, but what I'm really more worried about is my super sound sensitive bunnies. They both seemed very testy and grumpy when I came back, and Ben was really on edge. Do I need to worry about hearing loss? I'm levels of pissed at him that I've never been, it's so amazingly disrespectful. On top of it, once he was done with the speakers, he just unplugged his ipod, and left the cord out, where the buns could chew it. "Thankfully" they were too traumatized to eat it, and so I don't have to spend 20 minutes splicing. Wow, that's awful. I would say there's a chance of hearing loss, as there would be if a human sat there all night. I know the human ear has a defense mechanism in response to sounds that are too loud (the middle ear bones tighten, pulling them away from the eardrum lowering the sound ~10dB), but I don't know if rabbit's ears do that, nor do I know how many dB your speakers were turned up to. I guess even if there is a hearing loss, what can you do? Sue your roommate and get rabbit sized cochlear implants? Very sad and disrespectful. If you can't tell I'm an audiologist student.
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Apr 22, 2008 03:00
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girlscoutdropout posted:I guess even if there is a hearing loss, what can you do? Beat the piss out of him if he doesn't beg for mercy and claim he was roofied? I mean sure, it wont get my bun's hearing back, but it'd feel dam good. And I'm super respectful of his stuff too, he forgets to put his books away, so i do, so the buns don't chew them. I mean it's just loving ridiculous.
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Apr 22, 2008 04:59
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Deceptor101 posted:Beat the piss out of him if he doesn't beg for mercy and claim he was roofied? I mean sure, it wont get my bun's hearing back, but it'd feel dam good. And I'm super respectful of his stuff too, he forgets to put his books away, so i do, so the buns don't chew them. I mean it's just loving ridiculous. I suppose I meant, what could you do to restore their hearing? Absolutely beat the living crap out of him, I'd be furious.
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Apr 22, 2008 06:29
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Honk posted:totally awesome rabbit home Holy crap that's gorgeous.  Is there any way I could move in? How much do you charge for rent?  Bagleworm posted:cord chewing Is it possible to apply chili oil to the cords? And does anyone know if that'd be safe for rabbits?
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Apr 23, 2008 00:34
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girlscoutdropout posted:I suppose I meant, what could you do to restore their hearing? Absolutely beat the living crap out of him, I'd be furious. Oh I know, I was just having fun. As it turns out (or as he says) it was a very quiet ipod, thus the speakers actually weren't that loud. He says he was very conscious to not have it be too loud. I did make him very sorry, without beating him though. Buns are doing fine so I guess we'll just ignore it and keep going.
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Apr 23, 2008 09:13
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Deceptor101 posted:Oh I know, I was just having fun. As it turns out (or as he says) it was a very quiet ipod, thus the speakers actually weren't that loud. He says he was very conscious to not have it be too loud. I did make him very sorry, without beating him though. Buns are doing fine so I guess we'll just ignore it and keep going. Well that's good. If only I could be an audiologist for bunnies, that would be awesome. "Now raise your right paw when you hear the beep."
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Apr 23, 2008 14:07
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Honk posted:The 3-level cage with coloured "carpet", nice view and separate toilet room: I was wondering what you used for the floor covering on the upper levels? Awesome abode by the way. I'm jealous on behalf of my bunnies.
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Apr 24, 2008 03:35
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I bought myself a bunny the other day. He's a dwarf-lop of some description. I've yet to name him but my friend suggests Duke (in honour of John Wayne) since he uses one of his ears as an eyepatch when he sleeps. He's realy active in the afternoon and seems to enjoy running through the obstacle course I constructed but he refuses to leave or enter his hutch by himself. I hear it is bad to physicaly remove bunnies from hutches.
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Apr 24, 2008 05:10
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So today my girlfriend and I went shopping at Dirt Cheap. While there we happened upon THREE BOXES of wire cubes, each about 5$ each. There was no way I could pass it up, especially since we've been talking about making the cage bigger and getting another bun. Three hours later and...      It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 4x6x4... they've yet to discover the topmost area.
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Apr 25, 2008 04:35
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Such lucky buns! You're not worried about the carpet?
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Apr 25, 2008 05:13
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GoodApollo posted:Three hours later and... Some of your camera angles hurt my mind, but if I'm reading everything correctly, you have one litterbox, tons of white carpet, and two buns who have known each other for 3 hours!?
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Apr 25, 2008 05:27
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Deceptor101 posted:Some of your camera angles hurt my mind, but if I'm reading everything correctly, you have one litterbox, tons of white carpet, and two buns who have known each other for 3 hours!? Ha. No, the bunnies have been together for a month. This is actually an expanded version of their old cage. And the carpet is actually a rug we got for 10$ at Walls. We wanted something lighter so we could tell when Milly was having 'accidents'. Third, we were using several litterboxes, but it didn't seem necessary so we just gradually moved to one big one and it's works fine (except we still haven't got her to stop pooping everywhere).
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Apr 25, 2008 05:42
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I'm planning on getting a couple of rabbits someday (preferably three, but I'll be getting two to start things off), but that'll be in a few years at the soonest. For now though, I'm just having fun scribbling blueprints and plans for an indoor bunny hutch/cage, especially after seeing Honk's masterpiece. I'm also thinking of something 3 floors high, with two litterboxes. There'll be food dishes on the second and third floors and a place to dangle greens from the ceiling of the uppermost floor to lure the buns there, since it seems that they don't usually explore the third floor of things. I've got two problems with planning, however. First off, I'm rather stingy with floorspace, so I'm thinking of getting Netherland Dwarves... they're small and such cute little buggers. My current plans call for a surface area of 18 inches by 30 inches. The maximum dimensions I'd be willing to go for would be 24 inches by 36 inches, and I'm already very hesitant to do so since I generally go for one-room apartments. Is 18x30 horrifically small? Would I be limiting my dwarves to cramped quarters when they're not roaming around the apartment?  The second problem would be the staircase situation. I don't want to make the stairs too steep, nor do I want the stairs to take up too much floorspace. Thus, I'm limited by three main problems: The height of the cage, and the length for the stairs to ascend, and (this is a more minor problem, I think) the width of the staircase. 1. Original plans called for 9 inches between levels, which will make the slope gentler for the buns to run along. I'd like to go 12 inches, but I'm worried it'll be a bit steep. What's better: more headroom, or easy access to upper floors? 2. I could alleviate the problem by curving the staircase around a corner and using a mid-level tier, maybe 8 inches on a side, but I suspect the buns may prefer running up a straight line. It'd make a gentle-sloped, 12-inch-high floor much more feasible. Help me, goons. I need your architectural advice. EDIT: gently caress, looks like I'll have to reboot before I can put up my blueprints. ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Apr 25, 2008 |
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Apr 25, 2008 16:02
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The general idea for a bunny house is that they be able to stand completely up and not hit the ceiling and have some amount of room to run and play. Most of us are just nut jobs who like to give our buns a ridiculous amount of space. Some people use stairs/ramps but our buns have always just ignored anything like that and seem to prefer just hoping up to the other levels. I think the deal with multiple floors is that it just depends on the rabbits. Some will dig it as a place to run/explore, a place to hide or see higher, and some will just flat out ignore it and have no interest in it. Not trying to discourage you but I don't know if I would start off TOO big. Especially if you're going to get a bunny you need to box train, its better to start them off in a smaller space while training. Plus you never know what kind of fun things are going to come up- the first cube cage we built for Milly, she figured out a million ways to get out (once while we were gone for 3 hours, she basically ate our living room).
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Apr 25, 2008 16:33
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GoodApollo posted:... just hopping up to the other levels... Just forget the ramps if you are concerned about floor space. I put in an small level about 7" up for my bunnies to get on the shelf that is 14" up, but honestly half the time they just jump straight up to the higher level and forget the step. I was worried that the spot under the stairs was going to be wasted space (1 cube floor space, 1/2 a cube high) but the bunnies love laying under there.
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Apr 25, 2008 16:49
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ShadowCatboy posted:a place to dangle greens from the ceiling Just FYI: Rabbits graze, that is, they eat things on the ground, below them. Eating something dangling something above is atypical and they might avoid it because eating that way is not a natural behavior. Best case, they'll rip it down and THEN eat it. Just throw it on the top floor, that'll have the same effect with less effort on your part and less confusion on theirs. ShadowCatboy posted:Netherland Dwarves... they're small and such cute little buggers. Dwarves are actually MORE active than larger rabbits. It's like all the energy of a larger rabbit, compressed into a smaller space. Also, they can be assholes. Almost every dwarf I've ever had had a Napoleonic complex and would constantly bully and berate me and the other rabbits. I give my dwarves as much space as I give my giant new zealands. ShadowCatboy posted:My current plans call for a surface area of 18 inches by 30 inches.... ABSOLUTELY horrifically small. Typically, the MINIMUM cage/pen size I recommend is 24"x48". And that's only if the rabbit gets an assload of out time per day. I require a minimum of 4'x4' for adopters, and use 3'x7' or bigger for my sanctuary rabbits. You have to again consider the natural history of the rabbit. They are not natural climbers, although they do like to perch and get up on tall things to look around. But what they are evolved to do is run around on grassland and burrow underground. So building upwards can be entertaining for the rabbit, but it does not actually give them additional usable space. 18"x30" is barely enough to stretch out, much less to move around normally. Rabbits kept in enclosures this small develop sore hocks, arthritis, obesity, and even kidney problems because their bodies are not able to move as they need to in order to stay healthy. Think of it this way: a rabbit is in many ways, basically a small horse. You wouldn't think of a two-story stable stall (even with an adequate ramp and turnaround) as a replacement for an acre of pasture where the poor thing could get up a decent gallop... ShadowCatboy posted:The maximum dimensions I'd be willing to go for would be 24 inches by 36 inches, and I'm already very hesitant to do so since I generally go for one-room apartments. Would I be limiting my dwarves to cramped quarters when they're not roaming around the apartment? Yeah, I would consider that far too cramped, especially for three rabbits, but even for a pair or single. You're likely to see bursts of insane energy and destructiveness when they get out, as well as the abovementioned health issues. I would advise you simply not to get rabbits if that's all the space you can provide them. A better alternative is to make a giant open-topped pen using these grids or dog exercise pens. Maybe 5'x5', assuming you are in a 12'x12' room. Stick it in the corner. Then, when you are home and need the space, you fold it down to 2'x4'. When you leave the house or are asleep, you unfold it and they have all the extra space they need... One other thing: ShadowCatboy posted:one-room apartments Living in the same room with a rabbit or three is a prescription for disaster. They make a ton of noise, especially at 4am. If this is a studio apartment with a kitchenette, they are exposed to all the cleaning/cooking fumes which is not ideal for them. There is almost no open space for them to play which doesn't have furniture/cords in it. This would be like sharing a single room with three children rather than three pets. The noise and destruction would drive you insane. Just wait until your living situation allows for a slightly bigger place. A 1-bedroom with a separate living room is more than adequate for rabbits. Baitu posted:Just forget the ramps if you are concerned about floor space. And this. Also, GoodApollo, that's loving awesome. 
alucinor fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Apr 25, 2008 |
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Apr 25, 2008 17:13
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alucinor posted:
Oh God, this. If you're in the same room with them NO. We have a one bedroom, and they stay in the living room. When we have guests who have to sleep on the futon, they generally leave hating the buns.
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Apr 25, 2008 17:25
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I definitely plan on setting up a roaming area for them when I head out for work, something at least 5x5 feet (edit: it's the only way I'd be able to comfortably cram in some copies of Atlas Shrugged and Kevin Trudeau's books for them to tear up ). No way in hell am I going to keep them in their cage all day like mice. My main idea would be to keep them in a penned-off area (maybe 3x3 feet) when I first get them, along with the pen, until I can build a proper cage. This'll give me time to litter train the little guys and get to know them before they get a good, cordoned-off private space. I'll have to see about extending the cage to 24x36 inches along one wall, but I think the max depth would have to be 24 inches. I'll just extend an outer playpen as I mentioned above and let them out to the rest of the apartment when I can be there to supervise them. If only housing weren't so expensive in California.
ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Apr 25, 2008 |
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Apr 25, 2008 17:39
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ShadowCatboy posted:I definitely plan on setting up a roaming area for them when I head out for work, something at least 5x5 feet (edit: it's the only way I'd be able to comfortably cram in some copies of Atlas Shrugged and Kevin Trudeau's books for them to tear up With our dwarf she tends to uh, climb out of any open pen areas if we aren't watching. Its really going to depend on how much you can trust them. Knowles we could let run all day. Our min, no, especially not in a playpen while we're not there. The cage I mentioned above was actually just basically a playpen. Some people use open-air pens exclusively, but in our experience with some it just doesn't work. Especially with hyperactive minis and dwarves, who can jump amazingly high or even climb. We watched Milly jump onto a counter top the other day. EDIT: Wait, you want to put 3 bunnies in a 2'x3' space? GoodApollo fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Apr 25, 2008 |
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Apr 25, 2008 18:01
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GoodApollo posted:EDIT: Wait, you want to put 3 bunnies in a 2'x3' space? Only for certain instances, like for when guests are over. Like I said, the entire design is a hutch-pen hybrid (where the pen can be folded up if I do need to set the buns aside), I was just focusing on the architectural design of the hutch. I think my aunt actually had a smaller setup. I believe one goon mentioned covering a pen with a cloth with clothespins was an effective psychological deterrent, so I'll be trying that and hoping it works.
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Apr 25, 2008 18:12
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ShadowCatboy posted:Only for certain instances, like for when guests are over. Like I said, the entire design is a hutch-pen hybrid (where the pen can be folded up if I do need to set the buns aside), I was just focusing on the architectural design of the hutch. I think my aunt actually had a smaller setup. Again, can work sometimes, but it didn't for Milly. As far as other housing concerns, I would STRONGLY suggest you go read this and subsequent links about bunny housing: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/housing.html
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Apr 25, 2008 18:24
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GoodApollo posted:Again, can work sometimes, but it didn't for Milly. Way ahead of you. I've also been reading through the diet section so I know how to spoil them safely, and the litter training section because I need to get used to handling poopies. The article states that a rabbit needs at least 4x his size to be comfortable (and larger if he'll be kept in most of the time, which hopefully won't be the case). 6 square feet is easily 4x the size of a dwarf (though I'm sure 4x alone would be scarily small). I'm just hoping the multiple levels will give them a little more room on the occasions I can't let them out of the pen or allow them to have free roam of a living room.
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Apr 25, 2008 18:46
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| # ? May 14, 2024 18:10 |
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ShadowCatboy posted:The article states that a rabbit needs at least 4x his size to be comfortable (and larger if he'll be kept in most of the time, which hopefully won't be the case). 6 square feet is easily 4x the size of a dwarf (though I'm sure 4x alone would be scarily small). But dwarves need MORE space due to their increased activity levels. Furthermore, you need to duplicate that for every animal. So for 2 you need a minimum of 12 square feet by this argument; 18 for three. ShadowCatboy posted:I'm just hoping the multiple levels will give them a little more room on the occasions I can't let them out of the pen or allow them to have free roam of a living room. Again: it doesn't. Building upwards doesn't actually give them more usable space. It's an enrichment, not an expansion. Squeezing them into this small a space is NOT going to be good for them. In addition to the health issues, you may see increased aggression (towards you and towards each other, even in a bonded pair or trio), as they try to work out their frustrations. Also, litter training is much more difficult in a tiny cage. The rabbit perceives the entire cage as the toilet, or conversely, sees the entire outside world as the toilet. Also also: for three rabbits you need to start with three litterboxes, or two large ones. Those crappy corner things don't work for poo poo, I recommend using rubbermaid containers. So you need at least 2 litterpans that are say 18"x12". Doesn't leave much more room for bowls, toys, hidy boxes, and space to stretch out. Your aunt has a smaller setup? Yes, rabbits have been being kept in tiny hutches for fifty years or more. But most of these animals never see their full potential of 10-12 happy, healthy years. They die at 3-5 years, of diseases which are painful, expensive, and preventable. Do this: approach a rabbit rescue. Cally has three HRS chapters: 1, 2, 3. Tell them the situation and that you are interested in dwarves and here is the housing setup you have in mind. They will work with you to determine whether this setup is viable. They may even have a pair for whom it would be ideal (older, low-activity level). And they won't hesitate to tell you if it's unacceptable. If someone from the HRS actually sees your situation and plans, in person, and tells you that this setup is too small - what will you do? It really sounds like you're set on this come hell or high water and not considering that the animals' needs cannot be shortchanged for our convenience without negatively impacting their health and well-being. I'm not trying to be an rear end. I've been doing this for eight years and I've seen hundreds of people try to do this and it has ALWAYS failed. Always. I can't even tell you the number of people on this very forum who have posted "OMG GETTING BUNNY" (or whatever animal), are told repeatedly that their situation doesn't sound very good for this animal, do it anyway, and later sadly report that the bird, bunny, ferret, guinea pig, whatever had to find a new home or went to heaven. You can either listen to our advice and save yourself (and the rabbits) a lot of grief, hassle, and expense, or you can be just like everyone else and end up out a lot of time and money and rabbitless in the end.
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Apr 25, 2008 19:27
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